“Inversion” refers to transactions where a company buys a foreign enterprise and then changes its tax domicile to take advantage of lower tax rates overseas. While the U.S.’s high statutory-tax rate isn’t really an impediment for businesses in some industries — those that can take advantage of various breaks and loopholes — it is for retailers and health-care companies. In 2013, Walgreen paid tax representing 37% of its pretax income.

In a statement, Walgreen put the onus more on the struggle to get a transaction to work than on public opinion. Companies need to structure their deals in a certain way to shift their domicile.

The option that Walgreen had — to buy the remaining 55% of Alliance Boots it didn’t already own — would not have qualified for inversion treatment, the company explained. So they were left trying to find a different structure.

“We took into account all factors, including that we could not arrive at a structure that provided the company and our board with the requisite level of confidence that a transaction of this significance would need to withstand extensive IRS review and scrutiny,” said Greg Wasson, the current CEO of Walgreen, who will have that role at the combined Walgreen-Boots Alliance.

“As a result, the company concluded it was not in the best long-term interest of our shareholders to attempt to re-domicile outside the U.S.”

And yes, the retailer did take the public reaction into consideration. In its own dry words:

“The company also was mindful of the ongoing public reaction to a potential inversion and Walgreen’s unique role as an iconic American consumer retail company with a major portion of its revenues derived from government-funded reimbursement programs.”

According to labor-backed campaign group Change to Win, Walgreen derives about $17 billion a year in revenue from Medicare and Medicaid.

Looking at a transcript of the investor call, analysts really weren’t hung up on the lack of inversion. Instead, they focused on the “reset” earnings outlook for 2016 — “reset” being the retailer’s word for “lowered.”

Walgreen is now targeting earnings between $4.25 and $4.60 a share, compared with the $5 a share seen in a FactSet-compiled analyst estimate.